The Hitman Collection

The voice actor who plays Agent 47 in the Hitman series has only gone and confirmed the heavily-rumoured Hitman 5.

"I have been overwhelmingly gratified and humbled by the sheer dedication to the Hitman franchise that the fans have expressed," David Bateson said in an interview with The Gaming Liberty.

"For all the kind things that have been said, I am truly thankful. That kind of dedication and appreciation of the game deserves repayment... with an even more gob smacking instalment in Hitman 5. I don't envy IO Interactive for the pressure they must be under to deliver. I am utterly convinced they will!"

This morning Kane & Lynch developer IO Interactive responded to Bateson's comments."This is rumour control," it said on its official Twitter account.

"While Bateson's comments are flattering, they are a surprise - we are currently not working on projects with him."

Note IO fails to deny the existence of the game.

This isn't the first we've heard of Hitman 5. In July Eurogamer broke the news that IO was hard at work on the game and that it was set to be released Christmas 2011 at the very earliest.

In the four years since the release of Hitman 4, IO has put out third-person action game Kane & Lynch, its sequel, and cutesy third-person action game Mini Ninjas.

Square Enix told Eurogamer: "It's flattering to see so many fans are eager for another Hitman game. Unfortunately we have nothing to announce at this time."